CBLPI Alum Laura Elizabeth Morales Rocks Texas

The Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute summer internship program was ideal for a heavily involved student activist like Laura Elizabeth Morales. In 2007, Laura was facing a growing backlash on her University of Texas-San Antonio campus for being a bold outspoken conservative. She had recently co-founded a chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas at her school and had become a target for intolerant liberal faculty and students who openly criticized her for being a ‘Hispanic conservative’.

Laura was introduced to the Luce Institute through a fellow member of the Young Conservatives of Texas who told her “how wonderful [CBLPI] was in promoting conservatives and specifically issues for girls like myself.” Laura visited the Institute’s national headquarters in Herndon, Virginia for a leadership seminar shortly thereafter and leapt at the chance to apply for a summer internship for which she was accepted.
Interning at the Luce Institute had a major impact on Laura. One of her most notable memories is how much she enjoyed assisting with the planning of the annual Capitol Hill Seminar. She also liked getting to know author Amanda Carpenter, with whom she still maintains contact, and meeting Michelle Malkin. Laura stresses how important the professional contacts she made as an intern have been to her saying, “I still talk to many of the people I met the summer I spent in Virginia and those experiences have continued to open doors for me.”

The experience Laura acquired as a Luce Institute intern has proven invaluable in her professional life. “Thanks to [CBLPI] I was afforded many learning opportunities in journalism and graphic design, skills I use a lot today.” Laura is currently employed as a Public Information Specialist for her home city of McAllen, Texas. She uses some of the skills she learned as an intern to write news releases and maintains two city websites. She also uses her experience to help with social media sites for the city and its many departments. “I’m proud to work at a city that is innovative and utilizes many new and emerging forms of social media. We were one of the first cities in the nation to embrace social media, and I believe it makes our government more open and accessible for taxpayers.”

Laura remarked on how the internship affected her not only professionally, but also personally. “The message of strength and perseverance really echoed through everything we learned as interns and I think I’m a better person because of what I learned.” She further elaborated by saying that the staff of the Institute taught her “to never give up in the face of adversity and also that as girls in politics (especially as conservatives) we may face even more obstacles but we have to be stronger and fight harder.”

The Luce Institute recently asked Laura what advice she would like to give to young women who may be considering an internship at CBLPI: “Don’t let anything stop you… You have to be open to the experience and challenge yourself to get out there and do something. If I let my fears stop me and I didn’t pursue the opportunity to intern with CBLPI, I definitely would not be where I am today.”